Steve Tully has insisted that it is about time Exeter City find a cure for their Football League travel sickness.

The Grecians, who make the long trek to Hartlepool United on Saturday, have gone more than nine months without a victory away from home in League One.

City recorded just two wins on the road last season – against Carlisle United and Stockport County – and were soundly beaten 3-0 at Leyton Orient in their first away game this season.

Despite that, they proved they can perform when not at St James's Park, after securing a 3-1 victory at Yeovil Town in the first round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy last week. But having failed to muster a win in their last 16 away League games, their stand-in skipper Tully declared that things have to change.

"We are getting a bit annoyed about it, to be honest," Tully said. "We are a great home team but then we seem to be quite an easy team to play against away.

"We want to put that to bed and show people that we can play away from home and grind out results. Everyone is desperate to put on a performance on the road, and the sooner we do that the better.

"I just think it is one of those things. At home we start with a really high tempo and when we go away from home we are kind of expecting the home team to do the same. But we need to go out and impose ourselves in the first 25 minutes of games, rather than letting the opposition dictate the pace."

Tully has been given the green light to play on Saturday despite being forced to have 12 stitches following a clash of heads with Charlton Athletic's Akpo Sodje last weekend.

The defender, who is due to have the stitches removed after the game, has been hoping he does not jeopardise his place in the side by irritating the wound in training this week. "I got a whack, but it is not too bad," he said. "The doctor said he could see the bone very clearly after I had done it, so it was a bit of a nasty one.

"The ball was there to be won, and I wasn't going to duck out of it. It is one of those things that happens in football and you just have to get on with it. The doctor says I could take the stitches out on Friday or leave it until Monday. I'm going to leave them in, and hopefully the gash will not reopen before Saturday.

"I'm relieved that it won't keep me out, because I'm enjoying my role in the team at the moment. I've got a great understanding with Duffs [Richard Duffy] and I feel like my performances are getting better and better."

With Matt Taylor and David Noble struggling with injuries, Tully has skippered the Grecians against Yeovil and Charlton – and is understandably delighted with his record.

Tully said: "At the moment we are on a winning run – that's two victories in a row now. I don't know if that is down to my captaincy or not, but it's all good and I'm really enjoying it.

"I have been at the club for nearly four years and to be able to captain the club you love is unbelievable.

"I haven't changed the way I do anything before the game or the way I talk to the lads on the pitch. I'm just being me. I don't need the armband for me to be a captain, I think I have showed that during the time I have been here.

"It has been an honour but obviously, as soon as we get Matt [Taylor] or Nobes [David Noble] back, I will pass it back."

Exeter's development coach, Andy Tillson, believes City's reserve team will learn lessons from Tuesday's 4-2 home defeat at the hands of Torquay United's second XI.

The Grecians fielded a youthful line-up and were 4-0 down before hitting back with two late goals.

City's second string have lost their first two games of the season – they were beaten 4-0 by Bournemouth in their opener – and lie bottom of the Totesport.com Combination League Wales & West Division. But Tillson said that the setback against the Gulls at St James's Park will stand the youngsters in good stead for the rest of the season.

"There has been an improvement over the last few weeks and this was a real blow for them," he said. "We started slowly and we got done from two throw-ins, which was really disappointing.

"We didn't set up quick enough and paid the penalty for not being organised. But we just need to learn from the experiences and make sure we concentrate a little bit harder.

"It is a learning curve for us. Torquay were a little bit stronger physically than us, and they were older than us as well. You expect it to be a little bit of a roller-coaster with young lads but they are a good, positive bunch and I enjoy working with them.

"We will try and learn from it and make sure we are better the next time."

Torquay manager Paul Buckle was pleased with his side's victory. "It was a very encouraging performance, very dynamic – a competitive game on a good pitch in a proper league," he said.

United's line-up included trialist full-back Danny Senda, an experienced player with more than 250 games to his credit with Wycombe Wanderers and Millwall.